Eulachon. The name brings a wide range of responses from people. Even in coastal BC, many people will ask, “what are they?” Some who know a little about eulachon will say, “oh my, they’re slimy little fish,” or, “they taste gross.” Those who know more sometimes say, “when I was a kid we used to eat them from the Fraser,” and can identify them as members of the smelt family. Coastal First Nations who’ve eaten them all their lives, and others lucky enough to have had a chance, know they are the best fish one can eat, and as a

These are strange and precarious times for BC’s wild salmon populations, and their status is as complex and varied as the watersheds they inhabit. Some populations are doing well, while others are decreasing, depleted, or altogether gone.

In the trauma ward you’ll find most of the chinook populations of the Fraser River and the west coast of Vancouver Island, as well as

This summer saw the largest experiment in BC history in selective salmon fishing. Literally, the entire coast became a selective fishing zone to protect threatened coho salmon in the North Thompson River and upper Skeena River.

Canadian federal scientists say the common additive to industrial and household detergents and sprays seems to be related to the troubles of East Coast salmon stocks. The question is, where else are these chemicals causing problems?

by Miranda Holmes

Recent Department of Fisheries and Oceans research suggests that nonylphenols (one of the breakdown products of the family of chemicals known as alkylphenol ethoxylates or APEs) may be playing a role in the failure of salmon stocks to return to many of Canada's East Coast rivers.

It's always difficult to predict where the fish will be found on the west coast, especially when forecasts have to be made in an atmosphere where there's always the potential for a new outbreak of political posturing between Canada and the US. The word from Fisheries Minister David Anderson is that harvesting of Pacific salmon in 1999 is likely to take place in all sectors: First Nations, commercial, and sports.

The first forecasts are in for commercial salmon fishing for 2000, and, not surprisingly, they're not good. Harvest opportunities for Fraser sockeye might range "from limited to none," says the DFO, and the northern troll fleet will probably be shut down for the season due to the concern for coho and chinook.